Ashes to ashes
by TotallyNotaHacker
Summary: When Dust survives his fatal experience after defeating General Gaius, he did not expect to face foes not only from the physical world but the supernatural.
1. Prologue

"Wait! Come back!" Fidget shouted as she quickly pursued a magical sword, which would fly away faster and faster. She would follow it for a stretch, flying beside a long river of lava until at last, she found what the sword had been searching for. The sword, Ahrah, had lodged itself in the volcanic rock beside the body of Dust. Fidget's eyes welled with tears at the sight of him and the horrendous state he was in. She flew to him, faster than she had before and landed next to his head. His hat was lost during his battle with General Gaius. His cape had long since burned away and his clothes were close to ashes. His fur had been charred and covered in soot. She heard him taking sharp, raspy breaths. How he was alive she didn't know, but it didn't matter to her now that she had found him.

She tried to grab one of his paws and lift him into the air, but he was much too heavy for her. She, invigorated with a rapidly growing sense of urgency, flew high into the air and dashed to the moonblood camp. She arrived in the camp, shouting to everyone nearby that Dust was alive, flying fast towards the main tent where the Ginger and the Elder stayed. Ginger, a cream-colored feline with ginger hair and large blue eyes immediately looked up at Fidget as she barged into the tent.

"Dust is alive! He needs our help!" And just like that Fidget darted out of the tent. The Elder and Ginger stood up, Ginger running out of the tent and following Fidget along with many of the moonblood soldiers. Nearly the whole camp would follow Fidget to see the legend, the one who had ended the crusade against the moonbloods and saved their entire race from extinction. Dust still lay on the ground, his clothes started to burn away from the heat and nearby magma. Several soldiers, upon seeing Dust's still body, lept forward to pick him up. They held him with caution, not wanting to add to any injuries he may have sustained, and slowly brought him back to the moonblood camp.

The group of 8, consisting of Dust, Fidget, the Elder, Ginger, and four soldiers, entered the infirmary tent and sat Dust on a bed. The four soldiers left and a moonblood doctor with red skin entered the tent. The doctor first removed what was left of Dust's clothing and put out the embers. Then he would apply ointment on Dust's wounds and quickly wrap them in gauss. Fidget, Ginger, and the Elder would stay back, not wanting to interfere with the doctor's procedure. Dust would finally be dressed in a lightweight robe. Ginger anxiously wrung her hands over each other. Fidget slowly approached the bed and watched Dust's light breathing, growing more and more restless.

"Just wake up already!" She growled and flew above Dust, jumping on his chest. Dust lurched forward, coughing out ash and soot while gripping the bed. Dust gasped for air as he continued to cough out ash, Fidget now hovering above him. Dust breathed heavily as he looked around, taking in his surroundings. Ginger ran forward and hugged Dust, tears rolling down her cheeks, Fidget joining in. Although their tight hugs hurt, it was soon forgotten in the warmth he felt in their embrace. The doctor would soon leave and the Elder would slowly approach, although he had no words. He, too, was joyful to see Dust had survived certain death. Ginger looked Dust in his light blue eyes.

"I thought I had lost you again," she said, lightly choking on her words. Fidget piped up.

"Don't you ever do that again! If I swoop down to save you then you better let me!" Fidget would continue to go on a tangent, Dust watching and smiling all the while. The Elder finally spoke up.

"I believe that we should give Dust time to rest, he is not in a good state and needs time to heal," and with that, the Elder walked out of the tent. Ginger looked at Fidget and then back at Dust.

"I guess he's right, I'll be back later to check on you Dust." She gave him another hug and slowly stood up, leaving the tent. Fidget looked down at Dust and shook her head.

"I'm not leaving your side again," Fidget would land on his bed next to him, stretching. Dust would sigh, smiling.

"How...how long had I been out?" Dust asked, his fingers running over the patches of fur that had been burned off.

"I'm not sure, but it took us at least 40 minutes to find you. That was only because Ahrah had flown to you…" Her eyes widened, "oh no, I left him behind when we were getting you!" And with that, she dashed out of the tent. Dust chuckled and slowly laid back, letting out a deep sigh and closing his eyes. Dust hovered between consciousness and dreams when an invisible figure entered his tent. The figure slowly and silently approached Dust's bed, sliding a curved dagger out from his sleeve and raising it above his head. Dust's eyes shot open and reached out to the side. Ahrah flew into his hand and he swung upward, blocking the dagger. Dust felt his strength fading as he held the man's knife at bay, he grunted and pushed back quickly. The invisible figure would stumble back and then leap at Dust and jab at his side, Dust quickly blocked the jab and swung at the invader's arm. The attacker's arm flew off with a sickening sound of enchanted steel cutting through flesh and bones. The arm and the dagger scattered across the floor as Dust lept forward and stabbed the attacker through the chest.

Dust hit the ground hard, trembling and panting. His body hadn't been ready for combat, his head pounded like a large drum. He clutched his head as a group of soldiers rushed into the tent. The last thing Dust saw was a blurry image of Fidget and Ginger looking over him when he was softly placed back into the bed.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Dust woke up, his body aching and his head pounding. He would look around, seeing Ginger sitting next to his bed. She smiled softly as he tried to sit up.

"Dust, you need to rest," she gently pushed him on his chest to make him lay back down, "you aren't well enough to even stand yet, the person who attacked you made your condition worse." She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead, "how do you feel?" He yawned, her hand bringing slight comfort to his horrible headache.

"It feels like someone took a forge hammer to my head…" he groaned, wincing when Ginger put a cold rag on his head, "who was he?"

Ginger sighed, "he wore a uniform that was similar to yours, Elder Grey eyes thinks it was a member of General Gaius's army." Dust tapped his finger against the bed frame.

"He was a member of my former squad, I recognized the form and the way he attacked. We used cloaking devices when we had to be subtle…" He looked away from her, a wave of overwhelming guilt flooding his mind while he remembered his bloody past. Ginger placed a hand on his cheek, forcing him to look her in the eyes while she slowly kissed his forehead. His face flushed slightly as she spoke.

"Dust, you need to let it go. This person worked with Cassius, not you." She spoke firmly, she wanted to make her message clear to him.

"But, I…"

"No Dust, you are not and will not be him. You are Dust." She softly hugged him and he returned the hug. Fidget flew into the room, holding a large pile of roots and pretzels.

"A-a little help here?" Fidget looked as though she was about to drop the items, Ginger quickly got up and helped Fidget set the items on the table. "Phew, we got you roots to help with the pain, they taste nasty though." Fidget made a gagging face, "which is why we got some pretzels, it'll help you get it down." Dust smiled widely.

"Thanks Fidget, it's really appreciated." Ginger started to take the roots and grind them into a powder, then pouring the powder into some water. Fidget sat next to Dust, nibbling on one of the pretzels. Ginger would hand Dust the cup of root water and a pretzel. Dust sniffed the solution, his nose instinctually scrunching up as he caught a whiff of its' abhorrent smell. Ginger chuckled lightly.

"I would recommend taking it sips at a time, it's a really strong tasting solution and you might throw it up if you take it too quickly. If I added anything to sweeten the tonic then it would lose its' effect." She sighed as Dust hesitantly sipped the tonic, reflexively gagging as he sat the cup down. He kept the fluid in his mouth and painfully swallowed. Fidget giggled as she watched his face contort from the taste of the tonic. Dust quickly took a bite out of the pretzel, trying to drown out the horribly bitter taste with the saltiness of the pretzel. Dust looked at the cup, sighing heavily.

"How much of this will I have to take?" Dust asked, hoping he didn't have to drink more than this cup.

"You'll need to drink at least five roots worth of the stuff, so about six cups." Ginger looked at the pile of roots, "although maybe more if you don't heal as quickly as you should." Dust would groan and lay his head back, taking another sip of the horrible root juice. Fidget would stand up and jump into the air, excusing herself from the tent. Ginger would smile, "now make sure you drink all that, I'll be back later to see if you need more of the tonic." Dust nodded slowly as she left the tent. Over time, Dust would drink all of the tonic. The small pile of pretzels would already be halved by the time he downed the cup. Dust sighed, seeing the pile of nasty roots still sitting on the table next to him. He slowly closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, putting the cup down. He would slowly doze off as Ginger re-entered the tent. She would grind up another root and fill a cup of water with it, she would leave the cup on the table and leave the tent.

Dust would come back to consciousness after a few hours, he could tell from the amount the candle next to his bed had melted. He slowly stretched and sat up, his joint protesting against him as he slid out of his bed. He then quickly grabbed Ahrah from where it was leaning against the table and pointed it at the shadows, where a dark figure sat in a chair just outside of the lights reach. Ahrah protested against this.

"This is not an enemy Dust, it is Master Grey-eyes." Dust would lower the sword as Grey-eyes stepped into the light, letting out a sigh of relief.

"I apologize Dust, I wanted to ensure you had a peaceful rest. Although it seems I have caused you unnecessary stress." The old man picked up his staff and tapped it on the ground, making it light up again.

"N-no, it's my bad. I should have known it was you." Dust stammered.

"Don't expect the impossible from yourself, you couldn't possibly have known it was me. Ginger made you another cup of jasberry root tonic, the more you drink the faster your burns will heal and your fur will grow back." Dust turned to the table and took the cup of tonic, the name not making it anymore appetizing. Grey-eyes walked to Dust's side and placed a hand on his shoulder, "although not much time has passed, General Gaius's defeat has spread through Falana," he smiled up at Dust, "and your name is being reverberated throughout the land as well as all of the good you have brought." Dust would smile then would take a sip of the tonic, the smile disappearing immediately after tasting the foul liquid. Dust would set the cup down and turned to look at Grey-eyes.

"What do we do now? General Gaius may have been defeated, but there must be more we must do." Dust inquired. Grey-eyes sighed and nodded his head.

"The attempt against your life is proof of that. Although his army had disbanded and returned to their families, some groups in his regiment were fiercely loyal to him. They will pick up where he left off and finish the job. Our work is not done yet and they will wage a war of bloody vengeance against you. Please enjoy the rest while you can because I suspect you won't get much of it in the days to come." Grey-eyes patted Dust's shoulder and left the tent. Dust sighed and took another sip of the tonic, his nose scrunching up from the taste. He sat in the chair next to the bed, sipping the tonic.

"What am I going to do…?" Dust bit into a pretzel when Fidget hovered into his tent. She went to his bed and landed.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, her green orb like eyes boring into his light blue eyes.

"I feel much better than before, although it still kinda hurts to move." Dust responded, he looked away. It felt weird to not have his large hat with him.

"Yeah, the doctor said you'll be really sore for a few weeks. The fact you survived with as little damage as you did is amazing."

"Yeah...I'm not sure how I survived it, I blacked out nearly as soon as the wave hit." He sipped the tonic, leaning back on the chair. Fidget stretched and laid back, staring up at the roof of the tent.

"Do you think you can walk?" her wings twitched lightly. Dust looked at her quizzically.

"What do you mean?"

"They're thinking about taking you to Aurora village so that you can be treated by a warmblood doctor. As good as the doctor is here, he doesn't really know how to treat warmbloods."

"I might be able to walk a bit, but not for long. I hope they're ready to take a few stops on the way there." He chuckled at the last part as he walked to his bed and sat down upon it. Fidget would stand up and flutter into the air.

"It looks like you'll need more pretzels."

"I need more in my diet than root water and pretzels Fidget, I'm not like you. You live off of marshmallows and cupcakes." She playfully punched his arm, her little fist making the punch feel more like a tickle to Dust.


End file.
